I very recently went to the Shoreline Ampatheater in the SF Bay Area to see and hear the Dalai Lama...(he's not a rock group!)

In the pre-session info we recieved we were told that cameras were NOT allowed (and we were checked physically at the gate for cameras). They even made bullhorn announcements to drop all cameras in the trash bins or return them to your cars. Also, no recorders were allowed, and I had to drink my can of Slim Fast (my lunch) at the gate since no cans were allowed in. They even used metal detector gates and wands on us, right up to my crotch (nothing there, of course!). I was actually ready for a strip search! There were U.S. secret service agents with dogs all over the place.

While there, especially during the breaks (and this was a spiritual presentation) I saw so many wonderful photo ops of people attending, that I nearly went into a catatonic depression without my camera. No really good shots of the Dalai Lama himself, but great photo ops of the people there!

I can understand some caution, but this seemed rediculous.

At Shoreline, there were signs all over the place warning about what was not allowed: alcohol, recorders, lawn chairs, cameras, anything in a can, and so on. There were also very big guards to enforce this policy!

I have never attended a function there previously, and it's been many years since I've ever attended any concerts or major speaking events, and was very surprised at the extreme paranoia ("cautions?"). Even when the Dalai Lama was finished, a security agent by the exit said on her communicator device: "The dude (His Holiness) should split in about 20 minutes!"

There was one "official" photographer there...I guess she was "official"???...she was a young lady with one camera down front every day...no one bothered her. There was a 15 minute period on the "public lecture night" where all "press" photogs were allowed to photograph the Dalai Lama and then they were escorted out. There were secret service agents at all exits and aisles...and, yes, really, all wearing: black suits and dark glasses in 95 degree weather...all of them!

Question: is this a common practice at such "events," either musical or spiritual? How can a person take serious non-flash photos at one of these events nowadays? I have great photos from the Beatles at the SF Cow Palace concert in the early 1960's, and no one bothered me at all?

This was a moment I would have liked to have had the chance to take a few personal snaps...no such luck.

What has happened in the past few decades to cause such extreme caution regarding cameras and such, and is there any way around it? How about taking photographs at the Sex Mob concert?

-- Todd Frederick (fredrick@hotcity.com), July 03, 2001

Answers

It's common at large venues. I don't know any large theaters, stadiums, even clubs, that allow photography without a pass. A photography pass is even required at places the size of San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 Club. Even after I had a pass there and had been told I could shoot with flash, the big guys with the t-shirts told me I couldn't use flash.

Usually you need the permission of both the venue and the performer (or spiritual leader, whatever) in order to shoot. It's a lot easier to get the performer to tell the venue that you will be shooting for them.

At the Sex Mob show, the club knows me, I have shot there regularly, and it's not a problem. However, I still asked the Leader of the Mob. If he had said no, I wouldn't have shot, but fortunately, he was into it.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), July 04, 2001.

Also, the Dalai Lama isn't just another pol. There can't be many other world leaders who get to dictate the colours you should wear when going to meet him. The Pope's not too keen on unruly crowds with beercans either.

The list of those with a genuine desire to harm him is also, hmmm, quite long. Even if the NSA think he's an annonying distraction from the serious business of opening China up for investment, they still don't want him shot on US soil.

And then there's the commercial side. Try taking a camera into a big baseball game, or a Madonna concert. He needs the money more than they do, and for a better cause, so relax, sit back, and enjoy the fact that you got to see and hear one of the world's great spiritual leaders in the flesh.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), July 04, 2001.

Speaking of Sex Mob, here's one of my favorite pix from the show:

Sex Mob, San Jose, 2001, Copyright Jeff Spirer

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), July 08, 2001.

"I can understand some caution, but this seemed rediculous."

The Dali Lama would most certainly die violently if it weren't for such security precautions. He is a marked man, an enemy of the Chinese regime, and who knows how many other wackos want him dead? Is your desire for "a few personal snaps" more important than the life and limb of the Dali Lama? I think perhaps you weren't aware of the magnitude of who you were seeing or the political circumstances surrounding Tibet. In any case, He is vastly more "important" in the (political as well as spiritual) scheme of things than most other public figures you are likely to have the opportunity to see, much less photograph. That event you attended was WAY beyond the level of a rock concert or other entertainment venue.

-- Mike Dunsmore (mkdunsmore@fuse.net), July 16, 2001.